I Have a Dream

DreamThe "I Have a Dream" speech by Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. was delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. This speech is one of the most powerful and well known speeches in the world. I will analyze this speech. In doing so I will not only talk about the importance of the speech, but also the mechanics behind the speech, and why the speech still lives in infamy today.

I believe the primary focus of the speech was to inform. Inform who? I say to inform the government that over 100 years ago a promise was made by America that all men would be treated as equal. Yet, still in 1963 the African American community was scourged with racism, and discrimination. I think the secondary purpose of the speech was to advocate an issue. The speech was delivered in a way as to unite all races of people to rise up against the injustice against our own American brothers and sisters.

The "I Have a Dream" speech was given to address the need for civil rights in a time when the Negro race had no rights. At the speech there were hundreds of thousands of people there. Some white, but mostly black people who were tired of being discriminated against. I think the people came to see if there really was a peaceful way to stop this aggression and discrimination against them. The people stretched from the Lincoln memorial all the way to the Washington monument. The point of view that Dr. King is trying to get across is that even today in 1963, black people still are not free.

I think the speech was very effective especially because of the inflection in his voice and his use of hand gestures. Dr. King opened his speech by saying "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation". The main point he made was simple, injustice and discrimination. The way Dr. King addressed this was through examples of...

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...“IHave a Dream” Rhetorical Analysis
Five elements of rhetoric:
* Speaker: Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister from Atlanta, Georgia, who was inspired by Christianity and Gandhi.
* Audience: Primarily African-Americans were present at the speech, but it was heard by many white Americans across the country.
* Subject: A call for an end to racism in the United States.
* Context: The speech was given on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, in a time where it was very difficult for blacks everywhere, and they wanted to change the way they were treated. The civil rights movement was becoming more and more popular at this time.
* Purpose: To motivate people to make a change.
Three rhetorical strategies:
* Pathos: “Ihave a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (paragraph 16) This emotionally connects with all the parents listening to the speech. They know what it feels like to want the best for their children.
* Ethos: Because King was a minister, he was well respected by many people. He referred to the audience as “my people” which shows how he shared their same views and was respected by a majority of them.
Pattern of arrangement:
King did not use the classical model in his speech. He used exemplification as his pattern of...

...speech "IHave a Dream" delivered on August 28, 1963 is said to be the greatest demonstration of America's history. Dr. King intended to appeal to both black and white audiences through his inspirational speech. Written in a persuasive, stylistic manner, he used strong diction to call for a change in the nation, doing so without violence. He successfully combined the use of repetition, word choice and figurative language in his speech to connect to his audience and set the emotional tone of the harsh segregations facing African-Americans of the time.
Throughout his speech, King uses repetition to leave a powerful, lasting impact on his audience. The use of repetition gives his speech a rhythmic quality and sets a convincing tone. In his second paragraph, King repeats three times, "one hundred years later." He is declaring to his audience the importance of the need for the country to change, because it has been a long time passed since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and blacks are still being segregated. In the fourth paragraph, "now is the time," was repeated four times. Here King emphasizes the immediate action of his audience. He uses this phrase to encourage the blacks to rise up and act with urgency. The most notable quote, "Ihave a dream," was repeated a staggering eight times, adding an effective rhythmic fashion that organized his ideas. He goes on to make...

...﻿Ihave a dream that one day my four little children will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
His most famous speech was delivered in Washington DC on August the 28, 1963.
Presently there are more than 730 U.S. cities that have streets named after King.
Martin was born in Atlanta, which is the capitol and one of the most populated cities in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Martin Luther King was killed by a sniper's bullet on April 4th, 1968. King had been standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was fatally shot in the neck. King was immediately taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 pm.
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was an American clergyman, activist and leader in the African-American civil rights movement."IHave a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.[1]
Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863,[2] King observes that: "one hundred years later, the Negro...

...﻿ Ihave a dream
1. What indicates that King's words were meant primarily for an audience of listeners, and only secondarily for a reading audience? To hear these indications, try reading the speech aloud. What uses of parallelism do you notice?
This essay has analyzed Dr. King's "Ihave a Dream" speech for voice and rhetoric, through the analysis of his argument, how he supports that argument, the voice he uses in the speech and the audience at whom the speech is directed. It is obvious why over 200,000 people gathered peacefully in Washington D.C. to listen to Dr. King deliver his speech.
"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! thank God almighty, we are free at last!" This entire last paragraph of King's speech is an example of parallelism. This shows that all of these different races and religions are no better than the other.
2. Where in the speech does King acknowledge that not all of his listeners are African American?
“It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”Here, in this...

...Zarit Escalante Professor Duran English 1 A March 15, 2013 The Art of Persuasion Martin Luther King, Jr. “ IHave a Dream” Speech In in his landmark speech in Washington D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King begins by alluding to Abraham Lincoln whose imposing memorial stands behind him. He refers to the Emancipation Proclamation, the document Lincoln used to set free the enslaved Negros of his time. King’s speech is a call for Negros who have been free for “five score years” to be treated equally to their fellow white Americans. King uses metaphor, parallel structure and allusion to convince his audience that it is time for Lincoln’s intentions to become reality. King begins by using a metaphor comparing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence to a check given to given to all Americans promising to pay them with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those Americans were supposed to include black men and women. But King declares that the United States has not paid its due on that check. He states that it has come back with “insufficient funds.” King refers to a bad check to make his point clear because he knows his audience is probably familiar with the situation of receiving a rubber check. He goes on to mention the “bank of justice” which should supply equality to all Americans, but is bankrupt when dealing with African Americans. Later he compares the mood of black people to the weather. He states that...

...Dream, Dream, Dream out Loud
More than 40 years ago, in August 1963, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous ‘IHave a Dream’ speech, dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He argued passionately and powerfully with the help of language strategies. I believe Martin Luther King's Ihave a Dream speech uses effective language. Martin Luther King uses clear and memorable language strategies, figures of speech, and sound devices effectively in his speech, “IHave a Dream.”
Martin Luther King's "Ihave a Dream"speech uses clear and memorable language strategies such as repetition and concrete language effectively. Repetition means, "An instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage." King uses repetition very effectively in his speech. An example of how he uses repetition effectively is when King says, "we can never (cannot) be satisfied......"(53-62). He uses this phrase seven times. He does this so he can connect with his audience. Connecting with the audience is one of the key factors when giving a speech. King has accomplished this easily by using repetition in his speech. King also uses concrete language effectively in his speech. Concrete language means, "Language that...

...IHave a Dream Speech
Theme: During Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Ihave a dream” speech, there were many problems brought about concerning equality and freedom of the black population. What he wanted to get across to the people was that the United States was not abiding by its own laws and beliefs, so he wanted to get the theme of equality and racial justice across to his audience. This is considered his theme because this was the underlying message he wanted to get across to all those who heard and were impacted by his speech.
Type of Speech: There are three types of speeches a presenter can make. They are a persuasive speech, informative speech, or entertainment speech. I believe that MLK’s speech had concepts of all three types of speeches included in his speech. It was a persuasive speech because he was did not only preach to the black part of the audience, but also the white population and why they deserved equality and freedom. He was trying to convince the non-believers that the black people were and should be considered equal, and that it would not be a bad thing to see blacks and whites living everyday life together in equality. It was also an informative speech because MLK was giving the crowd facts of what the American constitution stated and how the people were not being treated by that law. Most of all, this speech was an entertainment type of speech. It was...

...﻿Tia Williams
English 111
Professor LP
October 9, 2013
Analyzing IHave A Dream Speech
By Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta Georgia on January 15th 1929. He was a pastor, activist, and a leader in the civil rights movement. Dr. King is most famous for his “Ihave a dream speech”. Dr.King speech was about segregation and discrimination against equal rights between whites and blacks was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28, 1963. There was a lot of racism and democracy happening 1963. Dr. King was dedicated and determined to make sure everyone was treated fair. There were many supporters in attendance on that important day. Martin Luther King’s speech is often thought of as one of the greatest speeches in history.
The rhetorical device I noticed in the beginning of the speech was how he used words and phrase such as “still is not free, captivity, and badly crippled”. He was letting America know that they are still being held back from happiness and rights to life. Dr King also reminded the people of the “urgency of now”, no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off “. He was saying he didn’t want America to sit back and continue to allow things to remain in just. Dr. King made the people very aware that he wanting these changes done without relating to physical violence.
Martin...